In anticipation of the visit to South Africa of Chinese premier Xi Xinping, the Secretary General of the ANC, Fikile Mbalula has expressed his party’s admiration and commitment to China.
He was speaking at an event at the Chinese embassy, during which he as introduced by the honorific ‘comrade’. Xi is to make a State Visit ahead of the BRICS Summit next week.
Chinese Ambassador Chen Xiaodong had invited Mbalula and Maropene Ramokgopa, AMNC eputy Secretary General and minister in the Presidency; he said that the two countries had ‘strong mutual respect and trust’.
He added: ‘We closely communicate and coordinate with each other in international affairs.’
Mbalula said that the ANC and the Chinese Communist Party were ‘part of the anti-imperialist and anti-colonial forces.’
He praised BRICS as an antidote to ‘unipolar dictatorship’ and went on to condemn sanctions against a number of countries: ‘Multilateralism will also be an appropriate arbiter on economic and trade matters as opposed to the unilateral blockades against countries such as Cuba, Zimbabwe, Iran, North Korea, and so on.’